Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor for Bioenergy

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The pulp and paper industry is one of the economic backbones of Canada. However, waste management has been a significant challenge for this industry. It was estimated that Canadian pulp and paper mills produced about 1.7 million metric tons (dried) sludge (in 2005) that need further treatment and disposal. The current practice of pulp and paper mill sludge management includes the use of mill sludge as low heat value biofuel after dewatering and drying (which is an energy intensive process) or as landfill or inland reclamation. However, incineration of mill sludge is considered as poor quality biofuel, due to the high water content. Furthermore, landfill of mill sludge or the use of mill sludge in inland reclamation projects faces the challenges of increased cost and environment concerns. Therefore, finding a low cost, environmentally sustainable, long-term solution to handling pulp and paper mill sludge is of critical importance to the industry. The proposed research program will focus on the development of an innovative anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology for bioenergy recovery from mill sludge in wet form. It is anticipated that the proposed research program will develop compact, high efficient membrane technologies for bioenergy production with efficiencies that are not achievable with current technologies. Furthermore, improved fundamental understanding of membrane fouling mechanisms and fouling control will be developed to improve the efficiency of the AnMBR systems. The success of the proposed study will solve the sludge management problems of the pulp and paper industry and enhance the leading role of Canada in wastewater technologies.